The Queen of Mau
by rachelpeters85
Summary: Princess Lady Serenity is assigned to an important long-term mission by her mother and father.


Princess Lady Serenity and her guardians sat at a glass table in the palace of Crystal Tokyo, her regal parents on the other side with Setsuna – Sailor Pluto. The princess greeted Setsuna with enthusiasm almost immediately, as the two had not seen each other much in the past couple peaceful decades. Sailor Pluto almost always stood at the Space-Time Door making sure all was well, and the job was very time-consuming. In fact, the only time the princess had ever seen Pluto were in times of crisis.

"Something's wrong," the princess concluded in her light, soprano voice.

"No, not wrong. Just … different," her mother said. "Do you remember the name of the planet that Luna and Artemis came from?"

"Mau," Hotaru –Sailor Saturn– the princess's first true guardian answered for her.

The king and queen nodded, and the queen said, "Well, something strange has been happening. Even though it's been centuries since the Galaxy Cauldron has been reset, souls are now being sent to be reborn on Mau in addition to Earth."

"There are humans on Mau?" The princess and her guardians could hardly fathom humans on another planet.

"A few handfuls, actually," the queen told them.

"That means they will eventually be targeted by the same kind of evil entities who target Earth," Hotaru said evenly, and Princess Lady Serenity could tell Hotaru was putting pieces together faster than the queen could explain.

 _Hotaru's so smart_ , the princess thought.

"Exactly," the king replied. "They'll need our protection from galactic enemies … but also from themselves."

"Whenever a planet is first colonized, or at least, colonized for the first time after a long period of time has passed, it's difficult for humans to figure out how to live easily," the queen said. "They aren't very organized right now; they're basically in anarchy. Their homes don't protect them well from the weather. They could just figure it all out on their own in time, as we all did in some former life or another, but since we're already here, Setsuna and I have agreed we should help them."

"But, wait – I thought that kingdoms on separate planets weren't allowed to communicate," the princess said.

"That's why I've been called for advice," Setsuna told her, brushing her long, dark bangs out of her face. "The rule is old and unhelpful. The reason why so many restrictions are in place is so that it's more difficult for evil to conquer different planets and times, but we believe – in fact, all of Crystal Tokyo believes – that by giving you and your guardians unlimited access, we do not jeopardize our planet or other planets."

The princess and her guardians all looked at one another. "Wait … you want us to go to Mau?" Sailor Juno finally asked.

"You want _me_ to rule Mau?" the princess asked.

"Of course," the king and queen answered.

"You can do it," Hotaru told her princess hopefully, seeing the shock and anxiety on Lady Serenity's face. "We can do it."

"And you'll be able to visit Earth anytime," the queen assured them all. "If you ever need help from me or any of the guardians, we can come, but I think you can handle this by yourselves."

"But," the princess started. She regretted speaking as soon as she did, for she felt silly to almost say such a thing in a serious situation that would require so much responsibility on her part.

"I already told Helios this morning," her father answered for her with a smile. "I told him to protect you with all his heart, just as he would here."

"But … Helios is tied to _you_. He's been guarding Elysion for so long, guarding _you_."

"Your mother is half of my heart. You are the other half. By protecting you, he's assisting me in an important way – the most important way."

The two shared a smile, and then the princess got up to hug both of her parents. "Thank you for believing in me," she said. "I hope I do a good job."

"We wouldn't let you leave the planet if we didn't think you were ready to take on this role," the queen said reassuringly. "The only catch is that you need to leave now."

"Right now?"

"I'm sorry it has to be so sudden," Setsuna said. "But lately there's been a lull of interference at the Space-Time door. No one has been going near it, so now's a good time to get you all there at once so the process doesn't take so long."

The crescent moon on the princess's forehead glowed a little with anxiety, but only her mother could feel the power it emanated. "You'll be fine, Chibiusa."

The princess's heart swelled at hearing her old nickname from the time she spent with her mother's past self as Sailor Moon, and she nodded.

"We shouldn't waste time," Setsuna warned. "I've been away from the Space-Time Door longer than I would have liked to."

With that, the princess, her guardians, and her parents followed Setsuna out of the room and moved deeper into the palace. All the walls were white and shimmering, but as they descended the stairs, the walls glittered grey, like the surface of the moon. They were headed to the lowest point.

The queen's guardians lined the hall near the room's opening, with the Moon Cats Artemis and Luna sitting at Sailor Mercury's feet. All of the women were dressed in colorful floor-length gowns just as beautiful as the queen's and the princess's white ones. Helios, donning a white suit to contrast the king's black one, stood near the Space-Time Door holding Diana, the princess's cat, and the princess smiled at the sight of them.

"Link hands with your guardians," Setsuna told the princess. Lady Serenity grabbed onto Hotaru's hand and the hand that Helios wasn't holding Diana with.

"Diana, did you say goodbye to your parents?" the princess asked.

"Yep! But I'm not worried. We can probably all visit pretty frequently," the chipper feline replied.

"Don't worry yourself so much," Helios told her as he gently kissed her temple, and the princess relaxed a little more.

"We wish Godspeed to the guardians Sailor Juno, Sailor Vesta, Sailor Pallas, Sailor Ceres, and Sailor Saturn," the queen, her guardians, her king, and her Moon Cats chanted in unison. All smiled with hope and confidence, and even though this warmed Lady Serenity's heart, she felt a chill move through her whole body at the words she heard as she and her guardians turned to face the mysterious Space-Time Door.

"All hail Lady Serenity, Queen of Mau."


End file.
